NJ Court Says Gun Law Doesn't Justify Firing Cops Over Pot

By Rae Ann Varona

The federal Gun Control Act's prohibition on cannabis users possessing firearms does not preempt New Jersey's cannabis legalization law, a New Jersey state appeals court ruled Friday, rejecting Jersey City's bid to use the federal law to justify the firing of two police officers who tested positive for cannabinoids.

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Feds Sue NJ Over Unauthorized Immigrant Tuition Benefits

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused New Jersey of unlawfully providing unauthorized immigrants in-state college tuition and financial support while denying those same benefits to out-of-state U.S. citizens, the latest of such enforcement efforts against states.

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Atty Escapes Firm's Suit Over Co-Counsel Deal 'Gone Bad'

By Jake Maher

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit over a fee dispute between a New Jersey law firm and its former co-counsel, finding that the plaintiff firm needed to name the co-counsel firm, not just the principal individual attorney behind it, as a defendant.

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'No Easy Task': Atty Seeks Fees For Ending Practice Limit Law

By George Woolston

A New Jersey attorney and his law firm told a state judge on Friday that they should be awarded counsel fees after they successfully challenged the constitutionality of a state law provision that penalizes attorneys who specialize in debt adjustment for representing debtors.

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TD Bank Says 'Call Ready' Policy Didn't Force OT

By MJ Koo

TD Bank asked a New Jersey federal court to toss a proposed collective action over its "call ready" policy, arguing the former call center worker who brought the suit failed to identify any workweek in which unpaid boot-up and shutdown time pushed her over the 40-hour overtime threshold.

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Analysis

SEC's Corp. Governance Shift Puts Onus On States, Cos.

By Sarah Jarvis

Lawyers who work with clients on corporate governance matters had a warm response to a recent pledge from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins to let states handle such issues, saying the shift marks a return to the agency's historical approach and may spur increased activity among state regulators.

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Analysis

5 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In May

By Kellie Mejdrich

HP, Siemens and Honeywell will defend victories in 401(k) forfeiture suits at the Ninth and Third circuits, while union pensioners will battle over life insurance and early retirement benefits at the Tenth and Seventh circuits. Here, Law360 looks at five coming oral argument sessions that benefits attorneys may want to keep an eye on.

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Pa. AG Has No Place In Grid Project Fight, High Court Told

By Keith Goldberg

Transmission developer Transource Pennsylvania LLC on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a plea by Pennsylvania's attorney general to intervene in Third Circuit proceedings that allowed the company's project to proceed despite its rejection by state utility regulators.

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Hospitals Say HHS Is Withholding Safety Net Reimbursements

By Brian Steele

For more than 20 years, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has failed to pay tens of millions in reimbursements to hospitals serving low-income populations by incorrectly factoring service days for patients enrolled in Medicare Part C, a coalition of 91 medical centers claimed in a D.C. federal lawsuit.

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Roundup

Real Estate Recap: Mapping The Affordability Crisis

By Real Estate Authority Staff

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including a breakdown of federal and state efforts to expand affordable housing and how real estate attorneys are responding.

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WilmerHale Adds SEC Veteran As Financial Services Partner

By Sydney Price

WilmerHale has added a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission deputy director as a partner in its securities and financial services department, the firm announced on Monday.

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Alston & Bird Adds Winston & Strawn IP Leaders In NY, SF

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Alston & Bird announced Monday that it has added three new partners to its IP litigation group, luring two leaders from Winston & Strawn LLP.

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Bondi Spurs Ethics Doubts By Using DOJ Official As Counsel

By Courtney Bublé

Harmeet Dhillon, an official with the U.S. Department of Justice, is representing former Attorney General Pam Bondi in proceedings before the House oversight committee, which Democrats on the panel say raises ethical quandaries.

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Fla. Judge Urges Rethink Of Refusal To Toss Ethics Charges

By Madison Arnold

A Florida appellate judge is pushing a judicial panel to reconsider its denial of her motion to dismiss ethics charges that she attempted to influence lower-court proceedings for an incarcerated man formerly on death row, arguing that the panel's chair does have the ability to consider her constitutional issues.

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Atty Seeks Docs To Back Ogletree DQ Bid In Bias Suit

By Adrian Cruz

A Georgia attorney on Monday asked a federal judge to allow discovery related to her bid to have Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC disqualified from defending ADT LLC against discrimination claims while concurrently defending Microsoft Corp. in the attorney's own pregnancy bias suit.

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Sinema Pans 'Gross Distortion' By Ex-Guard's Wife In Tryst Suit

By Abigail Harrison

Former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema on Friday doubled down on her contention that a North Carolina federal court lacks jurisdiction over a lawsuit alleging she destroyed a marriage after sending lascivious texts to her ex-security guard.

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Military Attorney Can Prosecute Minn. Civilian Despite Regs

By Jack Karp

A Minnesota federal magistrate judge won't stop a military attorney from being appointed to prosecute a civilian accused of assaulting federal immigration officers, despite finding that the appointment violates binding U.S. Department of Defense regulations.

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Longtime South Fla. Federal Judge James King Dies At 98

By Carolina Bolado

U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King, a Nixon appointee who spent more than half a century on the federal bench and helped shape the Southern District of Florida, died Saturday at the age of 98.

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Lewis Brisbois Gets Ex-Paralegal's Claims Sent To Arbitration

By Adrian Cruz

A Florida state judge determined that a former Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP paralegal has to arbitrate her claims accusing the firm of defamation and costing her a job at another firm.

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Maduro Gets June Court Date After US Relents On Atty Fees

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge on Monday directed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to return to court in June, after he and his wife Cilia Flores reached an apparent agreement with the Trump administration to access Venezuela government funds for their legal fees.

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Wells Fargo, Law Firm Sued Over Alleged Ponzi Scheme Ties

By Sarah Jarvis

Wells Fargo, a California law group and an Arizona investment advisory firm have been hit with a suit in a Texas federal court alleging they aided a purported Ponzi scheme over a purported oil-and-gas industry technology company.

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Attys Defend $85M Fee Bid Blasted By Judge In Google Deal

By Bonnie Eslinger

Consumers who pursued an antitrust class action against Google urged the California federal judge who criticized their 98,000 hours billed as "grotesquely bloated" to approve their $85 million fee request, emphasizing Friday that they filed suit a year before state attorneys general joined the case and maintained a leading role in the litigation.

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Orrick Partner Jumps To Pillsbury IP Team In LA

By Elliot Weld

A longtime Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP partner has joined the Los Angeles office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, bringing years of experience in intellectual property litigation and expertise in the Copyright Act and Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

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Mass. Justices Uneasy Over Judge's Handling Of ICE Incident

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' top court on Monday appeared concerned that a state district court judge in 2018 offered to detain a defendant sought by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, as the justices considered a public reprimand.

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